Wherever I may roam
by Clarity23
Summary: 10 years after the ending of TVD Caroline and Elena decide to take a break from Mystic Falls, death and the Salvatore brothers. They start travelling the world, starting with Caroline's requested cities: Rome, Paris and Tokyo. As they see beautiful places and things, they learn more about themselves, each other and what they want for their (eternal) life.
1. Bittersweet memories

**Heeyy :)**  
**This chapter is pretty short but the length will increase in time. R&amp;R please :)**

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"_We all take different paths in life, but no matter where we go, we take a little of each other everywhere." – Tim McGraw_

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Caroline stared at the marble gravestone and tried to sort out her feelings. While she was never more certain about any decision in her life she still felt like something was missing. And she knew what – or better – who that something was. She didn't turn around when she heard steps approaching her. It was Elena. Caroline could smell the bouquet of pink carnations that her friend carried with her. "Hey" Elena positioned herself next to Caroline and placed the flowers on the grave. "You know, she would have loved this" Elena whispered. Caroline nodded. Of course the idea of travelling the world, seeing ancient cities and beautiful nature, meeting various people and cultures would've been Bonnie's dream. She always talked about finishing college and then start a trip around the globe. But life wasn't fair and their friend never got the chance to see the things she wished for.

After the whole mess with the Other Side was fixed over ten years ago and Bonnie and Damon escaped the oblivion and came back to the land of the living, everything seemed to work out finally. There was no major villain coming after them, Elena was beyond happy to get Damon back, Caroline and Stefan's friendship blossomed into love and Bonnie returned in Jeremy's arms. But as time passed by things changed. Although Caroline knew that Stefan loved her she could never shake the feeling that she was just his second choice. And while she felt happy and content with him it was as if something was missing. The special something that makes someone your special someone. Five years after the events with the Travellers they both decided to call it quits and Stefan left Mystic Falls for good. And even though she missed him like crazy she didn't try to contact him. Damon and Elena were fine for a while but as of recently something was off in their relationship. And neither of them could tell what it was and they thought it was time for a break. That's why Elena agreed to accompany Caroline on her trip.

And then there's Bonnie. After she returned from the dead for the second time Bonnie changed. She was quieter and lacked her usual spirited self. It took them a while to realize that it was the coming-back-to-life that was bothering her. Although being human at that time she was a witch at heart. And it just wasn't right for her to escape death twice so she lost all her enthusiasm and willpower. When Mystic Falls was confronted with yet another supernatural force that tried to destroy the vampires once and for all Bonnie, being her caring and brave self sacrificed herself and saved the lives of her friends like many times before. Devastated, the gang tried everything to bring her back to life but realized after a while that Bonnie finally found her peace and let her go.

And still, seven years later her death didn't hurt any less. Caroline had a lump in her throat and blinked away her tears. If Bonnie was watching them right now she would shake her head, smile and tell them to get moving. Despite her sadness Caroline smiled and turned to Elena, who had a tear running down her cheek. She took her hand and said "Let's go". Elena wiped her tears away and nodded.  
It was time to leave Mystic Falls.


	2. Thank you for being a friend

_"As we go on we remember,_

_all the times we had together._

_And as our lives change, come whatever,_

_we will still be friends forever."_

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The first stop on their journey was Chicago. A city which was now the home of Matt Donovan. After he worked as a police officer in Mystic Falls for a while he decided that he wanted to have bigger cases – and less supernatural ones. It was strange for him that his best friends would stay teenagers forever while he would start to age and grow up after all. So he left town and got a job at the Chicago P.D. The girls saw him the last time at Bonnie' s funeral. He was doing very well and had a nice human girlfriend.

Elena was a little nervous because she didn't know how Matt would react to their visit. Caroline was more optimistic. He was a big part in her and Elena's history and although he might now live a happy and ordinary life in Chicago, he would still like to see them from time to time.

* * *

After their plane landed at the airport, Caroline and Elena strolled through the city and just took in their surroundings. "Are you sure that this is a good idea, Care? He is married after all and has a baby. Don't you think it's weird that his teenage ex-girlfriends suddenly show up at his door and ask to be invited in?" Caroline smirked. It definitely was a little strange for a police officer to be visited from two teenagers claiming to know him since kindergarten. "Elena, it's not like we'll go to his wife and tell her everything about Mystic Falls and our history with Matt. We're not even going to his house" Elena looked at her questioningly with her big doe eyes. "Nope. We'll just pay him a visit at work" Elena still looked sceptical but Caroline was bound and determined to go through with her plan.

After a short sight-seeing trip to the 'Cloud Gate' they made their ways over to the police department Matt has been working at for eight years. There were many police officers rushing around and nobody paid any attention to the two girls. Caroline looked around and spotted the reception desk. She put on her best 'Miss Mystic Falls'-smile and approached the lady behind the it. "Excuse me, M'am" The lady named Officer Burton looked up and eyed her suspiciously "We're looking for Officer Donovan". "You mean Captain Donovan?" Caroline raised her eyebrows in surprise. Matt had surely made a career in such a short time. She decided that it was time for some compulsion. "You'll now tell me where we can find Captain Donovan and leave us alone for at least half an hour!" Luckily, officer Burton was not on vervain and she led them to a door on the first floor. "Compulsion, Care?" Elena sounded taunting but she smirked. Caroline grinned and shrugged.

They knocked at the door and heard paper rustling and then a voice answered "Come in". Matt's voice.

Caroline took a deep breath, looked at Elena who nodded at her and opened the door.

Matt was sitting at his desk and he was staring at her as soon as she entered the room. He seemed older than the last time she saw him but ageing looked good on him. She saw a picture of Erin on his desk, the girl he brought to Bonnie's funeral who was obviously his wife now. There was also a frame with a photo of a baby, his daughter. Caroline smiled. She felt Elena come in and stand next to her and for the next few seconds nobody said a word. "Caroline? Elena? What are you two doing here?" All her worries faded when Matt smiled one of his beautiful smiles and stood up from his chair. He walked around the desk and embraced both of them. Caroline enjoyed the hug and took in the smell of her friend. It remembered her of the time when their lives were not involved in the supernatural world and when she thought that he might be the love of her life. "It's so good to see you, Matt" He smiled at them. "It's good to see you too. What brings you to Chicago?" Elena and Caroline exchanged a quick look. It was Elena who spoke up. "Well, Care and I decided to leave Mystic Falls for a while and travel around. And we wanted to visit you before heading to Rome" "Rome. Wow. Well, it's great that you remembered your old friend" They all laughed until Matt asked "When are you leaving?" Caroline sighed. "Our plane is leaving this evening at 8. We weren't sure how you would react to our visit and decided to leave sooner rather than to stay overnight" Matt's smile cracked. "You didn't know how I would react? Did you think I would attack you with a stake?" They laughed again together and Caroline realised how much she had missed that. "How about we head to my house so you can meet my daughter Chloe?" Caroline and Elena's faces lit up at the thought of seeing Matt's baby girl. "But … won't Erin be .. uhh … suspicious?" Matt smiled. "Don't worry. Erin knows everything about my past and Mystic Falls. She'll probably remember you two very well" That being said the three friends left the P.D.

* * *

"What are you thinking about?" Caroline turned her head to look at Elena. It was way past midnight and they were somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean but Caroline couldn't sleep. Seeing Matt's baby was a real joy. She was beautiful and Matt and Erin were obviously very happy. The way Matt's eyes lit up when he looked at his daughter was simply beautiful. She couldn't help but think what would've happened if she wasn't turned into a vampire. Would she have kids by now? She always wanted to have a daughter. "Matt and his family. They're really happy. I just thought of how my life would've turned out if Katherine didn't kill me all those years ago" Elena scrunched up her nose at the mentioning of her ex-nemesis. "Yeah … same here. I guess it wasn't meant to be but if we'd be human Damon and I might have stayed together, be married already and would maybe even have a kid" She smiled sadly and Caroline gulped. When she was turned she didn't really had kids and marrying on her mind. But now … technically she's already 29. That changes the perspective of her life a little. She took Elena's hand and smiled reassuringly at her. "We can't change what happened. But we sure as hell can enjoy the perks of being a vampire. Starting in Rome!" Elena grinned and they both looked out of the window.


	3. When in Rome - Part I

**_Hey people of the Klaroline ship (also known as the Titanic, which crashed against iceberg Plec)_**

**So, I'm not really sure if anybody is interested in this story anymore. I kinda gave up on it a few months ago because I had a serious loss of hope for our OTP because all of the TO-bullsh*it (Caroline 2.0 ... I mean Cami) and the Steroline nonsense. Anyway, I'll try to continue this story (without the month-long wait hopefully) and I'm curious if you like it since I have a lot of ideas planned out ... I just have to form them into chapters.**

**Enjoy.**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own the lyrics/quotes I use at the beginning of my chapters. My informations about Rome (and probably about most of the other cities Caroline and Elena will visit) are from Wikipedia and the rest of the internet. And forgive me my poor Italian skills, I had it only for two years in high school and I sucked at it. :)**_

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_Three hearts in the fountain_

_Each heart longing for its home_

_There they lie in the fountain_

_Somewhere in the heart of Rome_

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Caroline stared up at the impressive building in awe. The Colosseum was always one of her antique must-sees. She was fascinated how people in ancient times were able to build something like that. But on the other hand – who knows? Maybe they had some witches or vampires or else help them? It's not like there haven't been supernatural beings around at that time. 

"Caroline, shouldn't we follow the tour?" Her thoughts were interrupted by her friend and she looked around. The other tourists were already entering the building. "Yeah, let's head inside." It was interesting to listen to Giulia talk about the history of the old building. Giulia was their guide for the following week since Elena and Caroline decided to take a guided tour through Rome. 

Actually, it was Caroline who decided they needed that tour. Elena insisted that they were capable of seeing the interesting things of the city by themselves but Caroline being Caroline thought it was better to have an organized tour and be able to see as much as they could and also learn some things. The Colosseum was their first stop and their tour would continue until Thursday. After that, Caroline and Elena would travel to the beach to enjoy a little bit of Italy's sun before heading to Austria. Caroline's original plan for the journey was to travel to Rome, Paris and Tokyo. But since they were already in Europe and they were immortal and had all the time in the world, they would visit other destinations as well.

* * *

"And now you can see very clearly the hypogeum. It consisted once of a two-level subterranean network of tunnels and cages beneath the arena where gladiators and animals were held before contests began." Giulia explained and the tourists looked down at the cleared construction. Caroline took a quick look but then returned her gaze at Giulia. Something was off about that woman. She felt it when she first entered their tour bus but she couldn't pinpoint what it was. Maybe she was a vampire? No, she counted the heartbeats for the second time and although there were other tourist groups around, she could differentiate the ones from their group and Giulia definitely had a strong heartbeat. 

"Severe damage was inflicted on the Colosseum by the great earthquake in 1349, causing the outer south side, lying on a less stable alluvial terrain, to collapse." Caroline fixed her eyes on Giulia. There had to be something that would give away what was wrong with her! She nudged Elena in the side. "Hey, is it just me or is there something weird about Giulia?" Elena looked surprised at her and then observed the woman in question. "I'm not sure what you mean. She seems quite normal to me" "I don't know. It's just … something is off." Elena shrugged and followed the group which was heading outside again. Caroline couldn't believe that one hour had passed already. 

* * *

They returned to their bus and Giulia handed all of them some bottles of water and announced that they would next visit the Fontana di Trevi which would be their last destination for the day. Caroline attempted to drink from her bottle but shortly before the liquid reached her mouth she discerned a very familiar scent. "Elena … open the bottle and tell me what's odd about it" Elena rolled her eyes. "Care, if you're going to be paranoid the whole trip we should just return to Mystic Falls. I thought we were here to stop the constant worrying!" "Just open it already!" Elena sighed but did as she was told. First she was still nonchalant but suddenly she sniffed at the bottle and gasped. "Vervain!" "Exactly! I told you something was off about Giulia. Why should she hand out water mixed with vervain? Do you think they have problems with vampires around here?" Elena looked alarmed. "It wouldn't be surprising. Rome is a very old city, why shouldn't there be some vampires around?" Caroline looked at Giulia who was sitting in the front seat, giving anecdotes about her former tours which made the people laugh. Caroline took a closer look at her and saw the silver necklace with a cross shaped pendant on it. But even from her position Caroline could tell that it was big enough to put something inside of it. "I think Giulia is wearing a vervain necklace as well. They definitely want to figure out if vampires are taking the tour. The question is why?" "No idea. But we should be careful. I don't want to be staked by the pope or something. Great idea to take a guided tour" Elena said, half joking. The blonde sighed … was it that difficult to get away from problems? They were vampires goddammit! Their lives were supposed to be fun and careless and without concern to be staked at the next corner.

When they arrived at the Trevi Fountain, Caroline and Elena discreetly poured away some of their vervain water to make it seem as if they had been drinking from it. They didn't want to raise any suspicions.

They eyed Giulia carefully who went ahead to the famous fountain and waited for the group to gather. "Ladies and Gentlemen, as you might already know there is a famous legend about the Fontana di Trevi. It is said to bring good luck if you throw a coin over your right shoulder. If you throw just a single coin it is certain that you will return to Rome one day. Throw two coins into the fountain and you'll fall in love with an Italian person and if you decide to throw a third coin into the water you'll marry your partner one day. So, now feel free to throw your coins but choose wisely! You might just fall in love within the next few minutes" The petite brunette smiled when most of the group laughed at her comments. Other smiled up at their significant others with a look full of love. Caroline sighed. At least she didn't have to throw away three coins for nothing. "Care, stop worrying about Giulia. The vervain is probably just a means for protection. We'll finish this tour and then we'll leave the country and forget about this. Come on, let's throw some coins. Who knows, maybe the fountain was spelled by a witch" Elena winked at her and threw three coins into the fountain. Caroline rolled her eyes. If Elena ever decided to marry Damon she would stake herself. Or plan the greatest wedding this world has ever seen. Screw you, Kate and William, nothing could top a wedding feast for two vampires organized by Caroline Forbes. She smiled and took out one coin. She would opt for the first legend – returning to Rome one day. And then she would definitely not take a guided tour led by Buffy the vampire slayer. After a while of picture taking and throwing coins into water Giulia assembled the group once again. "Now it's time to end our tour for today. We'll stop at the city centre because some people voiced the desire to go to a restaurant for dinner. The rest will be brought back to their hotels. The bus will pick you up tomorrow at 9 o'clock, starting at the hotel "Romulus" just like today. Any questions?" The people shook their heads simultaneously and headed back to the bus. "Should we stay at the city as well? I'd rather stroll around there and find a nice restaurant then go back to the hotel immediately" Caroline asked and Elena agreed. "Maybe we find some cool place to go out. We haven't had time to party for a while" Elena grinned and wiggled her eyebrows. Caroline laughed at her friend's antics and agreed. They definitely needed to go out again.

* * *

"Soo… what now?" Caroline looked at her friend expectantly. They had a nice dinner at a cosy restaurant, went back to their hotel to change and now really wanted to hit the floor. The problem was they didn't know where to find a good club. Their hotel was in a beautiful part of the city – small cafés, amazing restaurants and boutiques and tourist attractions everywhere – but they couldn't find a place to go out. "Well, maybe we should just look for a tourist information place or something. I don't think people in Rome never go out" Caroline nodded at Elena's idea and they took in their surroundings. But before they could decide where to go a guy came walking towards them. "Buona sera le mie belle signore" Caroline and Elena smiled at the guy. "Ehm, buon giorno" Caroline tried her best to not sound too bad. That was one of the ten times since their journey started that she wished that she had taken Italian in high school instead of Spanish. "Ah, le ragazze are not from here?" Caroline sighed relieved. The guy spoke English. "Yes, we're from the US. Just visiting your beautiful city" The guy smiled at her. He was definitely cute. "Would you like to go to a cool club? It just opened and tonight is Ladies Night" He handed them a flyer which advertised said Ladies Night in a club called "Mezzanotte". "Sure, sounds interesting" Caroline agreed and Elena looked at her with raised eyebrows. 

"Uhm, yeah … Care, can I talk to you for a sec?" They smiled at the guy and went a few steps away to have some privacy. "Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean we don't know this guy or where he's taking us" Caroline rolled her eyes. "Elena, relax. As you said, we're here to have fun get away from Mystic Fall's drama. And I doubt that we couldn't handle ourselves if the guy would start being inappropriate" Elena sighed. "You're right. I guess the decade long facing enemies and fighting for our lives made me a little paranoid" They returned to the guy who introduced himself as Fabio and started walking to the club. 

* * *

After fifteen minutes of walking through Rome's streets (thank God they were vampires, otherwise the heels they were wearing would be unbearable) they turned left into a dark side street. "Uhm, are you sure we're right here? Seems pretty abandoned to me" Caroline had an uneasy feeling. Maybe Elena was right and Fabio had bad intentions. But then again he was indeed human since she checked on his heartbeat regularly. "Si, it is the right place for you two" Fabio grinned mischievously and before they could react they heard something dropping in front of them and the sudden pain of breathing in too much vervain started clouding their minds. Caroline was losing her balance and tried to look at Elena who already dropped to her knees, coughing badly. Suddenly she felt a sting at her neck and the burning pain from highly-concentrated vervain knocked her out entirely. Before she lost consciousness she saw two men appearing behind Fabio but then everything went black.

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**CLIFFHANGER! Yes, I'm an ass. Be prepared to see a familiar (or maybe not that familiar anymore) face in the next chapter. And a familiar and very beloved one in one of the next three chapters.**


	4. When in Rome - Part II

**_Yup, I updated. I might suffer from a severe case of procrastination and since I'm having finals now it's just logical to do something else than studying. No? Okay, I'm weird. So I hope you like this chapter. It might be a little messy but at least you'll meet someone familiar. :)_**

**_Oh, next chapter I plan to include a little bit of Klaus' life in NOLA ... no, he won't show up for a while and Caroline and he won't meet but I want to give an insight what's happening in New Orleans in 10 years (don't care what's happening in TO, sorry :) ) and I need a little build-up for a future chapter._**

**Enjoy.**

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_"A hero is someone who understands the responsibility that comes with his freedom."  
\- Bob Dylan_

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Cold. The first thing Caroline felt when she regained consciousness was the cold hard floor she was lying on. She slowly remembered what happened to her and Elena and decided to keep her eyes closed and just listen to her surroundings. She heard a faint breathing and two, maybe three people talking but she didn't understand anything which meant they were either a few rooms away or on a different floor. She could smell Elena's flowery perfume mixed with remaining vervain in her hair. When she was sure that there was no one else in the room she opened her eyes and got up. They were in a small humid room which looked like an old dungeon with a steel door and no windows. She turned to her still unconscious friend and tried to wake her up. "Elena? Are you ok? Elena, wake up!" By now she was shaking her in an attempt to wake her up. Elena frowned and opened her eyes. "Caroline? What's going on?" The blonde sighed. "I guess we're trapped" Elena's eyes widened and she jumped up, looked around and went to the door and tried to open it but her attempts were fruitless. "Goddammit, why does something like this always happen to us?" she asked exasperated. Caroline just shrugged. She looked down at her hand, glad to see that her daylight ring was still there.

"Okay remind me to never agree with you to follow a seemingly harmless guy in a foreign city to a dark street where we can be captured by vervain-carrying assassins!" Elena sat down at the cold stony floor and leaned her head against the wall. "Maybe we can break the door open? We're two vampires. The door shouldn't be that stable" Elena quirked an eyebrow at her suggestion. "What? At least we could try!" Her brunette friend sighed and got off the floor. "At three we'll try to kick it out, okay? One, two, THREE!" They kicked at the door with all the strength they could muster. Much to their dismay the door still wouldn't open. The only sign of their try was a dent in the metal.

"Well, that didn't go well. Maybe we should just sit here and wait for our captors. What could they want? Doppelgänger blood? Torturing vampires? Use our blood to heal somebody? Maybe just stake us for fun?" Caroline rolled her eyes at her friend's sarcastic statement. "At least they won't kill us immediately. If they wanted to do so they could've staked us when they knocked us out in the street but they didn't. Which means they have something different in mind" Just as Elena wanted to respond they heard steps coming down a staircase outside of their cell. Caroline and Elena prepared themselves for a fight. They heard several keys being put in the door and slowly, it swung open and revealed three faces. Two tall men in black suits with red ties were standing at the sides and between them was a small brunette woman probably in her early thirties. Caroline and Elena didn't wait but vamp-speeded to the door. But before they could reach the exit they felt an excruciating pain in their head. After a few seconds it stopped and they let out sighs of relieve. Okay, the woman was obviously a witch.

"I suggest you both to not try something like this again. I have the power to take you down in the blink of an eye" the woman threatened them in perfect English but stayed completely calm. "You shall now follow me upstairs to the White Hall. You have a meeting with the Council" Caroline and Elena looked at each other warily. A council which knows about vampires couldn't be any good considering their problems with the founder's council in Mystic Falls. The woman started going upstairs and the girls followed silently. It was better to know who captured them and why.

* * *

They went up a long flight of stairs until they reached a huge hallway. The walls were decorated with great paintings and beautiful golden lamps. They passed some large double doors and stopped at the last door at the end of the hallway. Although the word door wasn't very fitting for the huge entrance. The witch opened it and an enormous hall was revealed. At the end of the hall was a long table which was occupied by twelve people. They were very diverse in age and race. Five of them were women. The witch led Caroline and Elena near the table and stopped. She spoke to the people at the table in swift Italian. Caroline glanced at Elena who concentrated on the people sitting in front of them. When the witch finished her talk, the man in the middle of the table stood up. He was about 50 years old and looked very authoritative. "You two have invaded the streets of our sacred city. The members of our order have identified you as creatures of the night and yet you walk at daylight. The Croce Paladini has never met vampires who can walk in the sun without burning to death. How is it possible for you two?"

Caroline and Elena exchanged looks. So these people knew about vampires but not about daylight rings. That was interesting. Were they the first two vampires in possession of daylight rings who went to Rome? Or were they the first ones stupid enough to get captured by this order? Caroline cleared her throat. "With all due respect: What gives you the impression that we will tell you our secret? We came here without any intentions of harming anyone. We are both good vampires, we never hurt humans. It's your people who were brutal and took us hostage" The man started laughing. "Good vampires. Don't be stupid, girl. You are murderous creatures, deformities of nature. You are predators made to kill. Now tell us your secret and I give you my word that we will kill you fast and with minimum pain" Caroline's mouth went dry. She felt an anxious Elena grabbing her hand. What should they do? "No" she heard herself say the word before her brain processed the answer fully. The man sighed. "I was hoping you would be intelligent enough to work with us. Now, be that as it may" He looked at the witch and just a few seconds later she heard Elena cry in agony. But Caroline didn't have time to look at her best friend since she started to feel the all too familiar pain of her brain being fried. After a few minutes of complete distress and a blurry vision she saw Elena's lifeless body dropping to the floor. She tried to get to her but the pain was too much and a few moments later she fell down next to her friend on the cold floor and was unconscious once again.

* * *

Caroline woke up because her skin felt very warm. No, it wasn't just warm, it fucking burned! She opened her eyes but was instantly met by a burning splash of water which prevented her from seeing anything and hurt like a bitch. Caroline screamed loudly. The vervain was everywhere and the water just continued pouring down on her. After a while her body gave up and she fell back into unconsciousness.

This procedure was repeated countless times and Caroline's thoughts went back to the time her father tried to torture the bloodlust out of her. The only difference this time was that she wasn't tortured with the sun and she wouldn't care if her torturers would drop dead immediately. Scratch that, she would _love_ it! She wondered if Elena had to endure the same pain as her. It just was not fair. They went to Europe to get away from the dangers of Mystic Falls, not to get into new dangers with some crazy order people.

* * *

The next time Caroline woke up, she wasn't drenched in vervain-water and could finally take in her surroundings. She was chained to an iron chair in a small room. Above her was a shower head. Now that would explain the constant vervain attack. She tried to break the chains but she was way too weak. When was the last time she consumed blood? She had no idea how long they've been in this mess already. She heard footsteps approaching and suddenly the door was opened and a young woman entered the room. She was rather small and had shoulder length black hair. Caroline couldn't make out any details with her still sore eyes but the woman seemed familiar. "Are you willing to talk now?" Her English was without an accent and Caroline wondered if she was from the States. "I told you everything. My friend and I are good vampires. We feed from blood bags. Just let us go already" The woman stayed quiet for a moment and then she started walking towards Caroline. That was when she smelled the blood. She looked down and couldn't believe her eyes – the woman was carrying a blood bag in her hands!

Caroline felt the veins around her eyes throbbing and it took all her self-control to stop her fangs from surfacing. Okay, she was definitely hungry. "You haven't changed a bit, Caroline" She looked up from the blood bag. The woman was now right in front of her. How did she know her name? "You still don't recognize me? And here I thought you would remember the girl you crowned Miss Mystic Falls" the woman smiled at her. Caroline stared back. "April? April Young?" The woman in question grinned. "In the flesh" "Wha- What? What are you doing here? Are you a part of this? Why are you doing this to us?" Caroline couldn't believe it. She last saw April at Bonnie's funeral. But she knew that she moved away before finishing High School. "I am. You know, my dad was a part of the Council in Mystic Falls, right?" Caroline nodded. "That council was just a branch of the Croce Paladini. It's an order which has its roots here in Rome. The order was founded in 1472 and is present in every country in the world. It is made to keep the vampires and other supernatural beings in check. But the various other councils have their own rules and function mainly independently from its headquarters in Rome. They contacted me a while after my father's death. He was a delegate who had to bring back the balance to Mystic Falls. After he failed, they recruited me and now I'm here" She shrugged. "But why are you keeping us here? You know us, April. We went to the same school, goddammit, Elena was your babysitter! We're no cold-blooded killers!" April furrowed her eyebrows. "Oh really? Well, the last time I talked to Elena was at your senior prom when she nearly killed me!"

Caroline closed her eyes. That wasn't really helping their case. "I know that but it was different back then! Elena had turned off her emotions after Jeremy's death. That was a long time ago; she hasn't harmed a person in years!" April looked skeptically at her. "Come on, please! Why are you even here if you don't want to help us?" April looked her in the eyes and sighed deeply. "Alright, I'll let you out. But we have to stage it to make it look as if you got out by yourself. And you have to promise me to never, ever come back to Rome, okay?" Caroline could feel herself relax. "Of course. You have my word" April looked at her for a minute and Caroline was afraid she would reconsider her decision. "Okay. Now is a good time because the guards have their daily security meeting" She gave her the blood bag. "Now drink up, you'll have to break the chains" Caroline eagerly accepted the sweet liquid. The blood tasted heavenly and she could feel the energy returning to her body. She stopped herself before drinking the whole bag. Although her body craved for more, she had to save some of the blood for Elena. Breaking the chains was surprisingly now easy. "So that's that. Do you know where they keep Elena?" April nodded and they left the room as quietly as possible. Caroline used her senses to check her surroundings and was surprised that there seemed nobody near them. A part of her had wondered if April was trying to trick her.

* * *

They went down the hallway and after a while April stopped at a door to their left. Caroline could smell her friend's presence inside the room. "You should break the door open as well. But keep it quiet" Caroline raised her eyebrows. As if it was easy to break a door quietly. She tried her best and managed to open it without much noise. Elena was lying in a bathtub and from the looks of it, there was just enough vervain in the water to burn her but not to completely destroy her body. Caroline rushed to her side, ripped her chains and lifted her out of the tub.

"Elena! Hey Honey, wake up! Care bear has got some nice blood for you" She put the blood bag in front of her nose and slowly but surely Elena woke up. She grabbed the bag and drank the blood eagerly. After she was finished she looked up. "Care, what happened? How did you escape?" Caroline titled her head to the door. "April helped me" Elena followed her look. A flash of recognition shone in her eyes. "April Young?" The woman smiled at her. "There is no time for explanations I have to get you out of here!" Caroline stood up and helped Elena to follow April.

They rushed through many hallways and doors and one time they nearly got caught by one of the guys who escorted the witch but finally, they arrived at a door which led to freedom. "Okay, this is the least used exit. Remember what I told you: you leave this city immediately and never come back!" Caroline and Elena nodded. "Good. Now bite me" Caroline frowned. "Excuse me?" "You have to bite me. How else should I make your escape realistic?" April was right. Caroline slightly bit down at her neck and tried to hurt her as little as possible. April flinched but didn't say a word. The blood was delicious but now was not the time to try to drink from a living person. She let go of April and hugged her. "Thank you so much April" She smiled as Elena hugged her as well. "Good luck with your life. If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask as for help" Elena looked at the woman who was once just a little girl she had to take care of. "Thank you. Now hurry up" The girls didn't wait any longer but ran out of the door.

From the looks of it, it was just early morning. Elena and Caroline vampire speeded to their hotel, gathered all their belongings within a few seconds and were on their way to the train station just a minute later. They bought a ticket for the first train which was about to depart in five minutes.

The two took a seat in an empty compartment and sighed exhausted. "Now that was something else" Elena leaned back in her seat as the train started moving. "Can you please explain to me what happened back in that hellhole?" Caroline smiled. "Of course. But can we talk about it when we've left this country for good?" "Seems fair to me. Where is this train even going?" Caroline checked her ticket. "Non-stop to Vienna. Seems like we'll have an unplanned stay in Austria"


End file.
